This invention relates to demolition equipment and in particular a new and improved apparatus for demolishing concrete and masonry which may be attached to a backhoe or similar equipment.
The prior art includes jack-hammers which have proved relatively unsatisfactory for purposes of concrete demolition. The traditional jack-hammer was rather slow and inefficient. Certain improvements have come about in the art and one such improvement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,639 to Lindsey which discloses a hammer attached to a backhoe. U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,282 to Osborn discloses a gravity drop hammer apparatus for a skid steer loader wherein the hammer is raised and dropped under the force of gravity while the operator sits in a cab. U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,793 to Guest discloses an attachment for mounting various tools on the bucket of earth moving equipment such as backhoes and loaders. The Guest patent discloses a multiple tool attachment which could be utilized to mount demolition hammers and the like or other equipment for purposes of demolishing concrete. A power hammer utilizing leaf springs is disclosed in early U.S. Pat. No. 941,093 to Painter.
The present invention is a considerable improvement over the prior art in that the leaf spring design for coupling the hammer to the backhoe or the bucket of a skid steer loader provides an enhanced whipping action to the hammer head. The arrangement is also quite inexpensive and easy to install compared to equipment currently on the market. As a further advantage the leaf spring arrangement protects the bucket from severe disfigurement by damping the excessive destructive force generated by the hammer.